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Batton nearly won the race for police chief in the first primary in a six-candidate field. In runoff balloting, Batton defeated another Democrat, C. M. Ritchie (born c. 1897), a former deputy sheriff and former employee of the since closed Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, 935 to 632 votes.<ref>"Batton Given High Vote for Police Chief", ''Minden Herald'', May 14, 1948, p. 1.</ref>​

Batton nearly won the race for police chief in the first primary in a six-candidate field. In runoff balloting, Batton defeated another Democrat, C. M. Ritchie (born c. 1897), a former deputy sheriff and former employee of the since closed Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, 935 to 632 votes.<ref>"Batton Given High Vote for Police Chief", ''Minden Herald'', May 14, 1948, p. 1.</ref>​

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===Webster Parish Sheriff===​

===Webster Parish Sheriff===

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Police Chief Batton and Sheriff O. H. Haynes, Sr., net in a runoff election held on February 19, 1952. Batton unseated the senior sheriff by 43 votes, 5,444 (50.2 percent) to 5,401 (49.8 percent).<ref>"Batton Elected Sheriff," ''Minden Herald'', February 21, 1952, p. 1.</ref> On January 17, 1956, in conjunction with the successful gubernatorial comeback waged by [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]], Batton thwarted the attempt by former Sheriff Haynes, then sixty-seven, to return to office as well as the candidacy of C. Kelly McWilliams of Sarepta. Batton received 5,254 votes; Haynes, Sr., 3,134, and McWilliams, 1,493.<ref>"Batton Wins in First Primary", ''Minden Herald'', January 19, 1956, p. 1.</ref>​

Police Chief Batton and Sheriff O. H. Haynes, Sr., net in a runoff election held on February 19, 1952. Batton unseated the senior sheriff by 43 votes, 5,444 (50.2 percent) to 5,401 (49.8 percent).<ref>"Batton Elected Sheriff," ''Minden Herald'', February 21, 1952, p. 1.</ref> On January 17, 1956, in conjunction with the successful gubernatorial comeback waged by [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]], Batton thwarted the attempt by former Sheriff Haynes, then sixty-seven, to return to office as well as the candidacy of C. Kelly McWilliams of Sarepta. Batton received 5,254 votes; Haynes, Sr., 3,134, and McWilliams, 1,493.<ref>"Batton Wins in First Primary", ''Minden Herald'', January 19, 1956, p. 1.</ref>​

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Shortly after his first reelection, Batton was named one of seventeen directors of the Webster Parish Citizens' Council, a body which sought to prevent school desegregation.  Others in the council were the mortician Ed Kleinegger, Tax Assessor Richard B. Garrison, and the Minden High School principal, [[W. W. Williams, Jr.]].<ref>"Rainach to Speak at Council Meet Tomorrow Night," ''Minden Press,'' April 16, 1956, p. 1.</ref>​

Shortly after his first reelection, Batton was named one of seventeen directors of the Webster Parish Citizens' Council, a body which sought to prevent school desegregation.  Others in the council were the mortician Ed Kleinegger, Tax Assessor Richard B. Garrison, and the Minden High School principal, [[W. W. Williams, Sr.]].<ref>"Rainach to Speak at Council Meet Tomorrow Night," ''Minden Press,'' April 16, 1956, p. 1.</ref>​

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====Key deputies====

====Key deputies====

====Defeat in 1964====​

====Defeat in 1964====​

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In a field of eight candidates, the junior Haynes emerged as Batton's principal rival in the 1963-1964 primaries. Haynes had once been a deputy under his father's tutelage and thereafter for eight years supervised the state driver's license office with jurisdiction over all of North Louisiana.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5eVZvsyb00C&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=J.+D.+Batton+of+Minden,+LA&source=bl&ots=G_xmoAl3pF&sig=gy2tY1NMiqDXK94gKqkvh0XP0hU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=e-YEVPmJG8f28QG5sIDICA&ved=0CF8Q6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=J.%20D.%20Batton%20of%20Minden%2C%20LA&f=false|title=Minden|series=Images of America|author=John A. Agan|date=2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Charleston]], [[South Carolina]]|pages=94|isbn=0-7385-0580-3|accessdate=September 1, 2014}}</ref> He was also the [[Exxon]] distributor in Webster Parish for some four decades. Freddie Lynn "Fred" Haynes, the second of four sons of the junior Haynes, was a  [[Louisiana State University]] Tigers football star. Fred Haynes was the winning [[quarterback]] for his Minden High School Crimson Tide team which won the 1963 state championship.<ref name=mindenandperseverance/>​

In a field of eight candidates, the junior Haynes emerged as Batton's principal rival in the 1963-1964 primaries. Haynes had once been a deputy under his father's tutelage and thereafter for eight years supervised the state driver's license office with jurisdiction over all of North Louisiana.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5eVZvsyb00C&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=J.+D.+Batton+of+Minden,+LA&source=bl&ots=G_xmoAl3pF&sig=gy2tY1NMiqDXK94gKqkvh0XP0hU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=e-YEVPmJG8f28QG5sIDICA&ved=0CF8Q6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=J.%20D.%20Batton%20of%20Minden%2C%20LA&f=false|title=Minden|series=Images of America|author=John A. Agan|date=2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Charleston]], [[South Carolina]]|pages=94|isbn=0-7385-0580-3|accessdate=September 1, 2014}}</ref> He was also the [[Exxon]] distributor in Webster Parish for some four decades. Freddie Lynn "Fred" Haynes (1946-2006), the second of four sons of the junior Haynes, was a  [[Louisiana State University]] Tigers football star. Fred Haynes was the winning [[quarterback]] for his Minden High School Crimson Tide team which won the 1963 state championship.<ref name=mindenandperseverance/>​

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Other candidates included Royce McMahen, a [[veterinarian]] and a member of the Springhill City Council in Springhill in the northern end of the parish, Harold Gilbert, by then the Minden police chief, H. G. "Cy" Williams, an automobile dealer who was  the president of the Minden City Council,<ref>''Minden Herald'', July 5, 1962, p. 1.</ref> and offered an "[[Independent voter|Independent]] and [[conservative]]" platform.<ref>''Minden Herald'', May 29, 1962, p. 8.</ref> and G. E. "Doc" Steed, a former contractor and the town marshal in Cotton Valley.<ref>''Minden Press'', September 16, 1963, p. 3.</ref> Another primary candidate for sheriff, Guice McGinty ran again in 1963 and polled thirty-three votes parishwide. George Alvin Pipes (1913-1976), a graduate of Plain Dealing High School in Bossier Parish, a guard at the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, and a pipefitter from Dubberly ran in 1963<ref>"Seventh candidate for sheriff's race revealed", ''Minden Press'', April 29, 1963, p. 1.</ref> too and later switched to Republican affiliation to challenge Haynes in the [[general election]]s of February 6, 1968, and February 1, 1972.<ref>"Haynes Winner Over Pipes in Sheriff's Race", ''Minden Press-Herald'', February 7, 1968, p. 1.</ref><ref>''Minden Press-Herald'', February 2, 1972.</ref>​

Other candidates included Royce McMahen, a [[veterinarian]] and a member of the Springhill City Council in Springhill in the northern end of the parish, Harold Gilbert, by then the Minden police chief, H. G. "Cy" Williams, an automobile dealer who was  the president of the Minden City Council,<ref>''Minden Herald'', July 5, 1962, p. 1.</ref> and offered an "[[Independent voter|Independent]] and [[conservative]]" platform.<ref>''Minden Herald'', May 29, 1962, p. 8.</ref> and G. E. "Doc" Steed, a former contractor and the town marshal in Cotton Valley.<ref>''Minden Press'', September 16, 1963, p. 3.</ref> Another primary candidate for sheriff, Guice McGinty ran again in 1963 and polled thirty-three votes parishwide. George Alvin Pipes (1913-1976), a graduate of Plain Dealing High School in Bossier Parish, a guard at the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, and a pipefitter from Dubberly ran in 1963<ref>"Seventh candidate for sheriff's race revealed", ''Minden Press'', April 29, 1963, p. 1.</ref> too and later switched to Republican affiliation to challenge Haynes in the [[general election]]s of February 6, 1968, and February 1, 1972.<ref>"Haynes Winner Over Pipes in Sheriff's Race", ''Minden Press-Herald'', February 7, 1968, p. 1.</ref><ref>''Minden Press-Herald'', February 2, 1972.</ref>​